Sleeping Beauty
by raikis
Summary: Though she's asleep, everyday he grew more and more fond of her. NaLu AU.
1. Chapter 1

**I tried my best with this since I had very little inspiration, but I wanted to do something different. :)**

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Sleeping Beauty

The Sleeping Girl

"What was that, ice-freak?!" Natsu shouted nearly from the top of his lungs as he swung his way off the bed, soon regretting his action once his cased arm painfully hit the headboard. The young salmon-haired boy was hospitalized earlier today for breaking his arm. He, and a few of his friends were seated in his assigned room waiting for the nurse to come back with some papers—minus himself as he knelt down on his knees clutching his cast to his chest trying to make the stinging pain subside. Any medication he was on wore off earlier.

"I called you an idiot, _duh_." His _acquaintance_ Gray responded in a tone that would make anyone snap. The raven haired boy snorted at the pained expression the boy was wearing from merely _bumping_ his arm, "Serves you right! This is all your fault anyway."

"What!" Forgetting the throbbing in his right arm, the little boy stood from the ground and starting shouting again, "It's _your_ fault! This wouldn't have happen, if it wasn't for _you!_" He was angry anyone could tell by a single glance. Though his friends were used to it and merely blinked for a moment before sighing and shaking their heads.

"Wh—What?!" Gray shot up from his seat, jabbing his thumb into his chest as he stomped closer to the other boy, "How is it _my_ fault, dragon breath?!"

"_Enough_ you two!" A red haired girl, Erza, not much older than the two stood from her seat and got between them, "There will be no fighting here—we are in a public Hospital. And Natsu is in no condition to be roughhousing." Not like she'd allow them to fight for long anyway. Though, she can't argue on what Natsu had said. The situation of Natsu breaking his arm is Gray's responsibility. "If you two want to be productive of something, why not play a game?" She asked.

The three of them silently exchanged glances for a few moments as they thought of a possible game they could play together. Natsu tapped his chin in thought before his eyes lit up and a grin spread across his face, "Hide and Seek!"

"Ugh, you're such a twelve year old." Gray rolled his eyes, losing his shirt as he spoke.

"You're the same age as me, idiot!"

"_Boys._" Erza warned. She turned to Gray, "Since you have the blame for Natsu's injury, he will be choosing what game we play, " Gray's jaw dropped, "You know the rules—just don't be going into places that will get us into trouble. We can play until Mr. Makarov meets us to leave."

"Ice cup, you're counting!" Natsu pointed to the boy, a wide teasing grin on his lips. The other boy merely rolled his eyes and turned around in a corner and placed his hands over his eyes to count.

"1, 2, 3—" Once he started counting, Erza and Natsu were out the door, leaving it open to let the boy know they weren't hiding in the room. Erza went into the empty room next to the one they just ran out from, but Natsu kept heading down the hall.

"I'm not gonna lose this time." Natsu laughed to himself as he ran deeper down the hallway, not taking much mind to the fact that the deeper he ran down it, the darker it got.

Once he had figured he had ran far enough, he made a sharp turn and ran inside the first door he saw and closed it behind him. He slouched down on the floor with his back against the doors surface as he heaved to catch his lost breath.

It was when he settled his breathing down did he hear the beeping echoing through the shadowed room. Looking up, he realized he had ran in a room that was in use. Natsu stood to his feet and got a better look at the soft bumps formed on the bed in the middle from where he was—a little girl his age if not younger, resting there still and as silently one could be. If it wasn't for the beeping from the heart monitor, he would have gotten the impression that she was dead.

Curious, he walked to the end of her bed and picked up the clipboard that had her information and condition written on. Most of the words he understood… to a degree. The words that have more than five letters make his eye twitch.

"Lucy Heartifila." He read her name aloud and set the clipboard back down. Natsu walked around the bed to where he was on her right side, trailing his eyes over the blonde-golden hair that was spread neatly across the pillows. There multiple tubes coming in and out of her mouth and nose, and just the sight of it made him cringe. From what he could understand from what was written on the clipboard, this girl was here in a coma, and has been since some accident.

But him—he's only here for a broken arm.

There was a cushioned seat on the far side of the room that he walked to drag over, trying to be as quiet as he can in fear of this girl rising from whatever depths of sleep she was in. He figured Gray must still be counting, or is looking for Erza at the moment, so there was time to spar. And honestly, he feels like he's being rude about what he's doing. But at the same time he wonders where this girls family is at—why no one is here at her side while she goes through this?

Her head, arms, and hands were wrapped in bandages and covered in scraps and bruises.

"You've had it tough.." He mumbled to no one in particular.

Natsu shifted sideways in his seat and propped his feet up against the arm rest and fingered his arm cast as his eyes followed the girls pulse track on the heart monitor, not noticing the faint movement from beside him on the bed. But once he heard the doorknob on the other side of the room jiggling, he flailed and jumped up. Acting fast, he slipped underneath Lucy's bed while the door to the room opened.

"Is he in here?" He heard Gray whisper.

"There's a patient sleeping in here, so I don't think so." Erza whispered next, making Natsu smile mischievously, "Let's go to the next one." After she said that, he heard the door close. He waited a few moments before making his way out from under the bed and letting out a breath of relief.

"That was a close one." He sat back down in the chair and leaned up to where his arms were crossed against the bed. There was a short pause as he felt the side of his hand brush over another's warm skin before he got over his slight panic, knowing for sure something like a light brush would wake someone up from a coma. Natsu drug his eyes up to the girls face again and sighed, "I'm sorry for coming in here and hiding, but I'll leave once I'm sure they won't catch me."

He wasn't expecting a response, of course. But it started him when the girl twitched and a small smile came to her lips.

She can hear him?

"You can hear me, Lucy?" He whispered, leaning up toward her face with his eyes wide.

Well, go figure she could probably hear him—she's just in a deep sleep! Not liking how dark it was in the room, he reached out toward the table lamp that was next to them and switched it on, wincing at the sudden light for a few seconds before adjusting. With the new light, he also noticed just how large the room itself was. It could probably fit six more people in here! What was she doing in here all alone?

Feeling something brush over his fingers, he nearly jumped and looked down to see that the girl laying in front of him had wrapped her pinkie around his. Other moments this would have been considered friendly or something around there.

Well, no—he doesn't know this girl. He came in here hiding from his friends while they played a small game of Hide and Seek. The only thing he knows about this girl was her name and that she was in a coma. So, Natsu was on the brig of having a freak out, but he manage to shake off the feeling and sit back down.

"I should leave soon, it's getting late." He mumbled, looking up to the girls face once again.

"Oh, hello there!" The sudden voice that entered the room made him yelp and spin around, but his ankle got caught on the leg of the chair he was seated in, and caused him to fall back. The woman—a nurse—gasped and quickly ran to his aid, "Goodness—are you alright, young man?" The woman helped Natsu off the ground and into his seat.

"Yeah.." Natsu hissed, rubbing his broken arm as it began throbbing in pain from whacking it on the tiled floors. The woman smiled and knelt up from the ground and walked around Lucy's bed to pick up her clipboard, "S—So, um—is she okay?" Natsu asked, gesturing to the blonde girl sleeping in front of him.

"Uh—her? Oh yes, she's fine." The nurse smiled, checking a few things off the clipboard before setting it down again, a sad look coming to her features as she looked upon the little girl, "She's just.. _sleeping_."

Natsu ended up leaving soon after that, finding Erza and Gray looking for him in a panic near the E.R enterance with Mr. Makarov with them ready to leave. He went home and spent the next day complaining about his arm and arguing with anyone who brought it up, but the blonde girl in the hospital bed all alone in that room didn't leave his mind for an instant.

Believe it or not, he went back. Again, and again, and again. It was when he was a little older that he found out her mother had died in the car accident she was in, and that the father is over seas paying the bills by letter—not giving a crap he assumes. Otherwise the old man would be here beside his daughter. But instead, he left her in this big Hospital room all alone, sleeping in her thoughts.

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Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, and months turned into years that Natsu kept this up. Every now and then, he would bring something with him to put around the room, either it be a flower or a bouquet.

He was now a young man of eighteen years old.

The nurses and doctors have become quite used to seeing him here, they'd often stop by for a tease or to check up on the sleeping patient or just to have a small chat to liven things up a little. Natsu had watched this little girl grow into the woman that laid, eyes shut in front of him—breath taking beautiful.

He'd often find himself staying there from morning to night, doing nothing but sitting there, walking around, and even talking to her. Though barely any acknowledgment is given, but he never complains or worries.

But there was this one time her heart monitor skipped a beat and and scared the very soul out of him.

Then it came to where he doesn't know what he's doing anymore—why he's here. His friends question him and about this girl they don't even know—_heck_, he doesn't even know that much of her either. He would sit there and moll about it for hours to come, doing nothing but thinking as he looked at her. In any other's eyes this would have been creepy or stalker-ish, but to him it was much more.

At the age of twelve and until the age of fifteen, he was coming to see a new friend—someone he wanted to give company to even though they don't know him. Someone who will wake up one day to find that parts of her life was missing and gone.

But soon after he turned sixteen, he felt something inside him jolted as he looked upon the sleeping girl laid in front of him.

Now, at the age of eighteen, he still sits in this same spot, and after so long of moiling over it—finally he came up with an answer.

"Can you hear me, Lucy?" He asked softly as he stood from his seat.

Many—_many_ times have his friends and the people in his life pulled him aside, telling him to give up on this girl he only knows the name of. It's more than just her name, what happen to her, why she's here, how he found her—it's his _desire_ to be here with her. And the fear.

Natsu saw a small quirk on the side of her lips and he smiled, feeling his chest jolt slightly. His rough palm brushed over the smooth surface of her hand before he set it there and leaned down towards her, using his other hand to move a few strands of hair from her eyes as his lips came in contact with the corner of her mouth and cheek.

"I love you." He whispered as he pulled away, switching the light off as he walked out of the room.

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The next day was a weekend, and Natsu showed up at the Hospital a little earlier than he would on the weekdays. He walked down the same darkened hallway he has been for six years and toward the familiar door.

But as he approached, he noticed something was very different than the others. He stopped in the middle of the hall, seeing the door to Lucy's room opened—flooding with nurses and people and all the lights on.

Fear tugged in his chest and he ran the rest of the way, stopping in the door way once seeing the reason for all this sitting up in the middle of the room.

His eyes widen, locking with hers.


	2. Chapter 2

**So many of you were asking me to continue this or for a second chapter, and I just couldn't say no. I didn't want to at first because I feel like I would ruin it if I continued it, so I am not completely sure yet. Of course if I do the chapters will be much longer than this one.**

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Sleeping Beauty

Iris

Eleven year old Lucy sat in the backseat of the car with her favorite doll in her arms and her mother in the front seat. She had her eyes towards the window and was watching the street lights and cars pass. The blonde girl was tired and she can tell her mother was as well, "Where is papa?" She asked her mother, looking at her through the driver's mirror.

The older woman smiled warmly, "Your father is working, dear. But he'll be home in a few days." The tone her mother used was soothing and light—so gentle, her eyelids nearly closed. Instead, her head bobbed a little before she shocked herself up.

"I'm tired. . ." To emphasize her point, she yawned, snuggling into the side of the seat and holding her doll to her chest. She had spent the day with her mother and had one of the best days ever. It's been some time since they've had the time to be to themselves like this, but she enjoys even the littlest moments she has with her mother. Lucy just wishes her dad was here with them, but she understands he's away for business.

"Why don't you go ahead and sleep? We're almost home." Her mother—Layla—suggested, stopping at a red light. Lucy shook her head a mumbled something under her breath, probably something along the lines of 'no'. If her mother was going to be awake, so was she. Her mother does so much for her already, and staying awake longer wouldn't hurt. If she were to fall asleep and allow her mom to drive the rest of the way home alone, she would feel guilty.

Lucy nodded to herself, mentally making it a goal to stay awake with her. And besides, the road they're currently stopped on she recognizes and their street isn't far from here. They'll be home soon then they both can go to sleep.

Movement from the corner of her eye caught her attention, causing her to look ahead to the front of the road. Coming towards them was a swerving truck that was ramming into cars and wrecking the road as it went. It looked out of control and it frightened her.

"M—Mama! There's—!" The air was forced out of her upon impact, and found herself being pushed forward her in seat. The belt around her constricted and tightened violently around her waist and rips. Shards and dust of glass was prickling her skin and cutting her, but she couldn't find the voice to scream. Her body was thrust to the side when the back of the car came in rough contact with the one behind them, causing the side of her temple to smash into the car window at her side twice.

Then everything was dark.

Lucy doesn't know how long that scene from that night has been playing in her mind, but she doesn't know how to stop it. It was a continuous nightmare that was replaying over and over in her dreams. But the little she's able to comprehend is that she was asleep, and all she wants to is wake up. So like any other time when she's dreaming, she'll have to wait for when it's time to wake up.

But the nightmare had stopped—frozen the time right before the truck hit them. Then there was a voice of a boy and warmth that she craved.

She had reached out for that voice as the darkness faded, and found herself looking at the back of a small boy probably her age as well. He was laughing she could hear and his right arm was in a cast.

His laughing made her happy.

That scene replayed to her over and over and she found herself not tired of it one bit. Lucy enjoyed the ringing of the boy's laughter and each time she saw him and heard it, she would get a little closer and closer until it got to where she was in arms reach.

"Can you hear me, Lucy?" The boy asked, his voice and laughter becoming deeper as he aged before her eyes.

She smiled, "Yes."

Lucy watched as he slowly turned around to her, catching a glimpse of his face before it all disappeared and the inside of her eyelids come to her comprehension. She felt a warm pressure pressed to the side of her mouth and cheek and something grasping her hand.

"I love you." A soft gust of breath brushed over her face as a voice entered her ears. It was a smooth gruff voice of a male whispering towards her. Her body was heavy and a little numb, and all she could progress as her mind slowly woke was the warm feeling of the touch leaving her hand and face. A whoosh of cool air hit her before she heard the sound of a door clicking shut and she realized whoever was here just left.

She was left there alone with her eyes shut for what seemed to be hours, her eye lids slowly becoming lighter and her body becoming more awake before she heard the door clicking again. Her face slowly scrunched up when a bright light hit her and a displeased moan escaped her slightly parted lips.

She heard a gasp before some shuffling was heard and what felt like hand came behind her neck to help her sit up from where she lay.

"Miss Lucy?" A woman's voice sounded in a hopeful tone.

Her body trembled as she sat up, and the fact that her arms felt weak and limp didn't help either. Moving her stiff joints was a hassle, but she managed. Once she sat up, she winced open her eyes only to shut them after the light hit her. Slowly, she blinked them open again and looked to the woman who was currently knelt in front of her.

"Thank goodness you're up—_finally._" The woman—who looked like a nurse Lucy noticed—looked to be close to tears. She was smiling as well, which made her feel better a little. She also noticed the room she was in wasn't her bedroom, though any of that was a blur in her memory. Some beeping from the side of her made her eyes narrow in confusion until she realized where she was.

"Wh—Why.. what—" Her voice came out soft and hoarse, automatically making her shut her mouth. Later after that, more and more people started coming into the room –talking to her, asking her how she felt and if she remembers anything. She would shake her head 'no'—she doesn't remember anything of what happen. Everything was still a blur to her that she can't understand.

Lucy was told about her parents—what happen to her mother and where her father was. Though it was a great shock and hard to take in, she only shed a few tears before she calmed down a degree.

A flash of a boy sprung before her and she remembered what she saw before she woke up. The salmon colored-hair and the laughter soothed her, but didn't completely relieve the weight caving into her chest. Lucy looked over the male in the doorway of her room, taking in how he looked and what his facial expression gave off.

Her eyes locked with his widen ones, finding herself unable to tear away from them as they bored into her. And for a moment, everything between her and around faded to a silence as he walked further in and closer to her, his movements slow and hesitant. Lucy does not know him, but there was something about him that she felt was familiar. Though she remained glued where she sat, even when he stood in front of her with a smile working its way to his lips. He looked relieved.

She found herself looking over him as he looked away, taking in the color of his hair, his sun-kissed tan skin and the white scarf draped around his neck to fall down his back and over his shoulders. He was talking to the nurses in the room, and his laughter struck a chord within her that brought goose bumps to her skin. The memory of her dream flooded before her eyes as they made eye contact once again.

"It's you. ." She whispered without control.

"Oh Miss Lucy, Natsu here has been coming to see you for some time now." One of the nurses spoke up, walking up next to the said young man and sending him a teasing glance, "He had broken his right arm when he was 12 years old, and ran in here to hide from his friends." The woman snickered, poking Natsu's cheeks as he blushed.

"Yeah, well. . ." Natsu mumbled, diverting his gaze from the staring blonde in front of him.

One by one, the doctors and nurses left to attend their jobs before only a few remained in the room.

"Natsu, I'm afraid Miss Lucy will need her rest." A nurse said, moving to guide him out of the room but Lucy protested.

"W—Wait!" Her voice squeaked; face flushing upon realization on how loud she must've sounded. Her hands were held up in front of her in defense as she tried to come up with a cover reason for the company to stay, "I don't want to be alone. ." She watched the salmon-haired males eyes widen and her face flushed deeper in embarrassment. Did they misunderstand?

Though, the nurse smiled, "Very well. I'll be back soon with supper for you then, dear." With that, the nurse walked out of the room, leaving a flushed blonde and dumbfounded male. Lucy fingered her bed sheet as Natsu walked to the other side of the room to grab a chair and set it next to the bed. A comfortable silence followed between the two, Natsu had turned sideways in his chair with his feet propped up against the arm rest as he watched Lucy's heart monitor go up and down, occasionally she would feel his gaze on her back. Lucy had flipped over on her side facing him with her head bowed into her chest. And though the silence felt welcoming, she wanted to speak—but of what was the question. She settled into the silence not long after and found her eyes dropping close as her mind drug her into her dreams, and once asleep, Natsu had moved his seat closer to the end of the bed and brought his hand up to brush her hair from her eyes.

His expression was soft and his eyes gazed upon her sleeping form warmly as he listened to her steady breaths. Many years he craved to see the irises that slept behind those eyelids, and he can be at ease knowing he will see them again.


End file.
